Tiger Woods Has Begun Hitting Long Irons and His Driver

The window of opportunity is beginning to close on members of the PGA Tour, as Tiger Woods has confirmed that he is now hitting long irons and his driver. 

Woods has also stated he has begun playing a few holes under the guidance of coach Hank Haney. 

"As I had hoped, after Jan. 1, I started hitting longer irons and my driver.  I'm not swinging as hard as I can, but I'm working towards that goal.  So far, my knee has held up well, but I don't know when I'll be able to return to competition,” said Woods.

This is excellent news for the PGA Tour, television networks, sponsors and anyone else who has any kind of stake in the PGA Tour.

However, it dismal news for virtually every tour player other than Padraig Harrington. 

Not to say that Harrington would not have won the British Open or PGA Championship had Woods been there. But let's face it, a field without the No. 1 player in the world who is winning more than 30 percent of the majors he enters is obviously weaker than if he were there. 

Woods' little hiatus during the second half of the 2008 season opened up a golden opportunity for many of the world’s top players that they may never see again for the rest of their careers.

Woods may take some time to get back to his top form upon his return or he may come back better than ever. For the first time in a long time, he will be playing on a knee that does not contain a torn ACL. 

Predictions for Woods return have ranged from the Accenture Match Play Championship at the end of February to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the end of March to even the Masters in mid-April. 

Throughout the first 12 years of his career, Tiger Woods has displayed a wide variety of traits we have come to know: his pure hatred of losing, his flare for the dramatic, and his subtle yet meticulous methods of intimidating the entire PGA Tour for the past decade.

All of this points to the fact that Woods is unlikely to return until he knows for a fact that he has a legitimate chance of winning.

Members of the PGA Tour will likely be competing like cats and dogs over the coming weeks, as they know all too well that their window of opportunity is diminishing by the day.